2015 Press Releases

National Archives Welcomes Henry Louis Gates Jr. October 16
Press Release · Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Washington, DC

Finding Your Roots: The Official Companion to the PBS Series

On Thursday, October 16, at 7 p.m., the National Archives welcomes Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who will discuss Finding Your Roots: The Official Companion to the PBS Series. The program is free and open to the public and will be held in the William G. McGowan Theater of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC. Attendees should use the Special Events entrance on Constitution Avenue at 7th Street, NW.

Who are we, and where do we come from? The fundamental drive to answer these questions is at the heart of Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s Finding Your Roots, the companion book to the PBS documentary series seen by 30 million people. Henry Louis Gates Jr. shares tools of cutting-edge genomics and deep genealogical research. He explores the personal and genealogical histories of more than twenty luminaries, including United States Congressman John Lewis, actor Robert Downey Jr., CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, President of the "Becoming American Institute" Linda Chavez, and comedian Margaret Cho. Interwoven with their moving stories of immigration, assimilation, strife, and success, Gates provides practical information for amateur genealogists just beginning archival research on their own families' roots, and details the advances in genetic research now available to the public. A book signing follows the program.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic, and institution builder, Professor Gates has authored seventeen books and created fourteen documentary films, including Finding Your Roots, season two, now airing on PBS. His six-part PBS documentary series, The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross (2013), which he wrote, executive produced, and hosted, earned the Emmy Award for Outstanding Historical Program—Long Form, as well as the Peabody Award and NAACP Image Award. Having written for such leading publications as The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Time, Professor Gates now serves as editor-in-chief of TheRoot.com, a daily online magazine, while overseeing the Oxford African American Studies Center, the first comprehensive scholarly online resource in the field.

The National Archives Museum is located on the National Mall on Constitution Avenue at 9th Street, NW. Metro accessible on Yellow or Green lines, Archives/Navy Memorial station. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., daily. Free admission. Additional information on exhibits and programs at the National Archives Museum can be found online.

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